(Assira al-Shamaliya) In an olive grove on the edge of his village in the occupied West Bank, Dalal Sawalmeh gently shakes the branches of his trees for the annual harvest, without hearing the usual sound of olives falling to the ground.
This year, the trees “only yielded 50 or 40 percent of their capacity,” explains the 38-year-old Palestinian woman, who is sorry that some olive trees have not given any fruit at all.
Israeli and Palestinian olive growers claim that what used to be an immutable production cycle – a flourishing harvest year followed by a leaner year – has been disrupted for about a decade. They blame climate change.
Last winter in Israel and the Palestinian Territories was particularly hot and dry, while spring was marked by a spell of cold and downpours.
On the ground, “the changes are really obvious,” assures Hazem Yassin, mayor of Assira al-Shamaliya, a village near Nablus in the northern West Bank where olive trees have been cultivated for at least 500 years.
While Israelis and Palestinians note disturbances and agree on the need to adapt, their approach differs.
“Super-variety”
In a field where Tel Aviv’s skyscrapers can be seen in the distance, Giora Ben-Ari, scientist at the Volcani agricultural research center, is testing the heat resistance of 120 varieties of olive trees from around the world.
One of them, the Barnea variety from Israel, ensures good harvests even after hot summers, while the mouse, from Lebanon, maintains exemplary olive quality but in limited quantities.
“We still have not identified a ‘super-variety’ that is resistant on all points,” regrets Mr. Ben-Ari, whose institute is funded by public funds.
“Other fruit trees are much more sensitive to high temperatures” than olive trees, he notes. But the latter “are usually planted on bad land and thrive in less than ideal conditions. Every change affects their performance ”.
To counter the drought, Israeli olive growers irrigate their olive trees, often drip. According to Mr. Ben-Ari, about a quarter of the 33,000 hectares of olive groves are supplied with water.
Water, a luxury product
But on the Palestinian side, where farmers sometimes depend on olive crops to meet the needs of their families, irrigation is often a luxury.
Only 5% of the 88,000 hectares of olive trees cultivated by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are irrigated, according to Fares Gabi, an olive grower and retired from the Palestinian agriculture ministry.
He points to the Israeli army, which has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and “threatens” agricultural land, because the Jewish state restricts water extraction for Palestinian farmers, pushing up prices.
In Assira al-Shamaliya, one-fifth of the land is in “Area C”, where Israel has full control and where the army has established a base.
Palestinian farmers also face violence from Israeli settlers destroying their olive trees. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, 9,300 trees were felled between August 2020 and August 2021.
Abdel Salam Sholi, an olive grower in the village, has pruned some of his olive trees, even if it means giving up part of the yield, because he does not have the means to irrigate them all.
A colleague, Mohammed Amer Hammoudi, 67, decided to continue irrigating despite the cost. This Palestinian once received aid from the US government to water his fields, suspended by the administration of former President Donald Trump.
Water costs him 10 shekels per cubic meter (2.75 euros), at least six times more than for an Israeli farmer. Transporting water to his land costs him 15 shekels (4.10 euros) per additional cubic meter, he explains.
“Water is very expensive, but this system allows new branches to develop,” he says, betting everything on a new rainwater tank to lower costs.
Last summer, Dalal Sawalmeh also watered 30 of her 150 trees using barrels with small holes in the bottom, which allow the water to flow gently at the foot of the olive trees. A technique having ensured a higher yield, but not sufficient to be able to recruit workers for the harvest.
“I don’t want to pay for help,” explains the olive grower, who had to rely on her husband and children. “We try to save as much as we can. ”